Maps

I was in Maryland [my home state] for the Easter holiday, and while there I had a chance to visit the exhibit “Maps: Finding Our Place in the World” at the Walters Art Museum [part of Baltimore's Festival of Maps]. The exhibit included maps from all over the world, from various time periods - I found it fascinating. And it got me thinking about the different kinds of maps of Alabama that are available, either online or in our collection (or both!)

The first site that came to mind was Alabama Maps - a project of the Cartographic Research Lab here at UA. Obviously, the focus of the site is on maps of Alabama, and there are all kinds of gems that have been digitized and made available for download (for example, the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps and the Historical Soil Survey Maps).

Other kinds of maps available from state agencies include:

- Maps of Alabama’s Surface Water Classifications and Alabama Waterways Guide Maps (Alabama Department of Environmental Management)

- Wildlife Management Area Maps and Where to Boat [note: works in IE, not Firefox] (Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources)

- the Alabama Department of Archives and History has blank maps available for download - in case you want to test your knowledge of Alabama county locations!  They also have a database of maps in their collection - about half of which are digitized.

- Alabama Watershed Assessment Maps (Soil and Water Conservation Committee)

- Digital Geologic Map of Alabama  (Geological Survey of Alabama)

- County Maps (Department of Transportation)